Device for regulating balance-wheels.



W. E. PORTER.

DEVICE FOR REGULATING BALANCE WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-26.1916.

1,228,820. Patented June 5, 1917.

mt NORHIS FEYERS C0,?Nnraurnm, WASHINGYON. n c.

citizen of the United WILSON n. PORTER, on NEW HAVEN, conlvncrrou'r,'00., or new HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,

ASSIGNOR TO NEWIHAVEN CLOCK A CORPORATION.

DEVICE FOR REGULATING BALANCE-WHEELS,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application filed December 26, 1916. Serial No. 138,945.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILSON E. Pon'rnma States, residing-at New Haven, inthe county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Devices for Regulating Balance-Wheels; and Ido hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and the'characters of reference marked thereon, tobe a full, 'clear, and exact description of thesam'e, and which saiddrawings constitute part sent, in

Figure 1- a view in front elevation of a for regulat- Fig. 2 a plan viewthereof.

Fig. 3 aview in vertical section on the line 33 of Fig.2 ofthe rockingbalancewheel carrier'shown-as detached, and on the double scale.

Fig. 4: a broken detail transverse sectional view, on the line If-4 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 5 a detached broken detail plan vlew,

showing the means employed for frictionally holding the end 'of thehair-spring to be adjusted. 4

My invention relates to an improved device for regulating thebalance-wheels of marine-clock movements and of watch movements, theobjectbeing to produce, for the purpose described, a simple, accurateand compact devi'ce constructed with particular referenceitovisualizingthe oscillation of the master balance-wheel and the balance-wheel to beadjustedso as to enable the oscillation of the latter to be readilycompared with the oscillation of the former.

With these ends in VI lBW, my invention consists in a device forregulating the balance -wheels of clocks and watches, the said devicehaving certain'details of construction as will be hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

' In carrying out my invention as herein shown, I employ a standardindicator 5 and a trial indicator 5., these two indicators beingpositioned to oscillate in close proximity to 'each other so astoce'ntralize, as it were, the comparison of their oscillations.

The standard indicator 5 is bent forward at a right angle from an arm orshank 6, staked upon an oscillating staff 7 having pointed pivot endswhich'are journ'aled in of this application, and repre hardenedcup-bearings 8 and 9.v The said staff 7 also carries an inwardlyextending arm 10 mounting a slotted plate 11, receiving the outer, endof the hair-spring 12 of themaster balance-wheel 13, the end of thesprlng being secured in the slot in the plate 11 by means of a wedge 14.

The trial-indicator 5 is bent rearward at a right angle from an arm orshank 15 staked upon a staff 16 having pointed pivot ends of which itspointed inner end bears in the bearing 9 before mentioned, while itspointed outer end bears in a cup-bearing 17 corresponding to the bearing8. The said stafi' 16 mounts an inwardly extending arm 18 carrying astud 19 formed with a notch 20 for the reception of the outer end of thehair-spring 21 of the balance-wheel 22 to be regulated, the said end ofthe spring 21 being frictionally held in the notch 20 by means of agr1pping-spring 23 coiled at its upper end to form a finger-piece 24-.and having its opposite end coiled upon the staff 16 as at 25 to fastenit thereto.

of the indicators 4: and 5 for their com- 'parison.

For mounting the master balance-wheel 13 and the balance wheel 22 to beregulated, 'Iemploy, as herein shown, a rocking balance-wheel carriercomprising three corresponding sector-shaped plates 28, 29 and 30secured together and spaced apart by pillars 31 of any approvedconstruction.

The master balance-wheel 13 is mounted upon a staff 32 pointed at itsends and oscillating in a screw cup-bearing 33 mounted in the rearplatef30 and in a double ended screw cup-bearing 34 mounted in theintermediate plate 29, while the balance-wheel 22 to 'be regulated ismounted upon a staff 35 pointed at itsends and oscillating in theforward end of the cup-bearing 34 aforesaid, and in a screw cup-bearing36 mounted in the front plate 28, and having at its forward end aknurled button 37 by means of which the bearing 36 is turned in and outso pillar frictionally held in place in .A

frame-plates 38 and 39 secured together by pillars 40. For the purposeof 'rockingthe' said carrier between these plates, I employ a stud 41provided at its rear end 'with'a threaded shank 42 entering the forwardsection of the two-part pillar 31, (Fig. 4) and at its forward end witha trunnion 43 passing forward through the frame-plate'38. The projectingforward end of the trunnion 43 mounts a pinion 44 meshed into by asegmental rack 45 turning'on a stud 46 in the said plate 38 andfurnished withanoutwardly extending han'd-lever47. The rear member of te two-part pillar 31 is formed with a bore 48 for the receptionof atrunnion 49 formed'upon a stud 50 fixed in the rear frame-plate 39. Ahelical spring 51 secured to the right hand pillar 31 of the rockingcarrier andto the lower right hand 40 of the mainframe formed by theplates 38 and 39, provides for returningthe carrier to its uprightpositionin which it rests against suitable'bulfer 52 in which positionthe carrier is normally maintained by the tension of its said spring. i

In the use of my invention, the hairspring 12 of thejmasterbalance-wheel 13is nicely adjusted so that the said wheel will have thecorrect number of oscillations per second for a clock or watch oftheseries'ln which the balance-wheels to be regulated are to be used. p

Preparatory to the introduction into the device of a stock balance-wheelrepresenting the balance-wheel units to be regulated, the screwcup-bearing 36 is unscrewed by its knurled button 37 so as'to widen thegap between its cupped inner end and the cupped forward end of thedouble-ended screw (:up-

bearing 34. The rear pivot of the Sta-E35 of the balancewheel unit to beadjusted, is

now inserted into the cuppedforward end of the double-ended cup-bearing34 after which the screw 36 is turned homeso asto provide a bearingforthe forwardpivot of the staff 35 The free end'of the hair-spring 21 ofthe stockbalance wheel ilnitis then inserted into the notch 20 of thestud 19 and the said'notch the pressureof'the gripping-spring 23. Thebalance-wheels 13 and 22 are "now brought to absolute rest after whichthe hand-lever 47 'is smartly depressed, with the effect of rocking therocking-carrier from right to left,"into the position show n bydotted'lmes in Fig. 1. Pressure being reas shown by broken upper edge-ofthe stud'19 to mark the point upright position. The described rocking ofthe carrier, sets thetwo balance-wheels cs cillating simultaneously, butthis continues only for an instant, after which the balancewheel22. tobe regulated will begin to oscillate slower or faster than the masterbalance-wheel. 13 according to the initialpositioning of the outer coilof its hair-spring 21 in thenotch 20*0f the stud 19. The workman nowmoves the outer coil of the hairspring 21 through the notch 20 in'onedirection' or the other until theoscillation of the balance-wheel 22wheel 13 as shown by the synchronous movement of the indicators 5 and'5. The

workman now brings the twobalance-wheels "to absolute rest, afterwhich'he'will again rock the carrier so as toagaini eifect'thesimultaneous oscillation of "the balancewheels the comparativeoscillations of which will be immediately visualized in the relativemovementof'the' indicators." He'now again l ts the hair-spring 21 :in''the 'notch20' until the indicators 5 and 5 move synchronously: Thisprocess is repeated until the two balance-wheels? are shown by theindicators to oscillate synchronouslyfor a predetermined number of beatssay,'20by count. When this? occurstheend of -theouter coil of thehair-spring'21 is'bentover lines in Fig; 3, upon the at which the coilmust: be held in the clock or watch movement :of the series to which itbelongs. The screw cup bearing 36-'is then T unscrewed by-itsknurledrbutton 37, permitting the now regulated balance-wheel unit toberemoved and replaced by another balance-wheel unit, and so on: r Iclaimr- 1;"In' a"dev1ce" for regulating balancewheels, the combinationwith a'rocking car- "r1er'mounting a the balance-wheel masterbalance-wheel? and cators mounted in thesaid 'carrier, respec-"tivelyf'connected with the 'outer'ends of the hair springs of "the saidbalance wheels and arranged in conjunction'with each other'for thecomparison of their relative oscillatory movement;

"'2."In a device for regulating balancewheels, the combination with arocking carrier mounting a master balance-wheel and the balance wheel tocator staffs'mounted in thecarrier foroscil- *l'ation therein,indicators carried by the respective shafts and located inopposition toeach other, and means connecting the said shafts with'the outer ends ofthehair-springs of the respective balance wheels,jwhereby the relativeoscillation "of the said'whee'ls is visualized forcomparison. 1 i movedfromthe lever 47, thehelical spring w 51 immediately restores thecarrier to its 3. In a devlce for regulating" balancesynchronizesperfectly with the oscillation of thema'ster balanceto be I adjusted,":of indibe adjusted, of 'indiwheels,-the combination with'a'rockin'g-carrier mounting a master balance-Wheel and the balance-wheelto be regulated, oscillatory indicator-staffs mounted in the saidcarrier, indicators carried by the respective staffs and arranged inopposition for the comparison of their movement, and means forconnecting the outer ends of the hairsprings of the said wheels with thesaid shafts, the hair-spring of the balance-wheel to be regulated beingadjustably connected with its'indicator staff.

4. In a device for regulating balancewheels, the combination with arocking carrier mounting a master balance-Wheel and the balance-wheel tobe regulated, oscillatory indicator-staffs mounted in the said carrier,indicators carried by the said stafls and arranged in opposition for theconvenient comparison of their movement, connection between the outerend of the hairspring of the master balance-wheel with one of the saidstaffs, and connection between the hair-spring of'the balance wheel tobe adjusted with the other stafi, the latter con.- nection including anotched stud receiving the end of the hair-spring of the saidbalance-wheel, and a gripping-spring for holding the hair-spring inposition in the said notch.

5. In a device for regulating balancewheels, the combination with arockingcarrier mounting the master balance-Wheel and the balance-wheelto be adjusted, of indicators respectively connected with and operatedby the hair-springs of the said balance-wheels for the comparison oftheir relative movement, the said indicators being bent toward eachother in the same plane so as to centralize the comparison. a

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

WILSON E. PORTER. Witnesses:

CLARA L. WEED, GEORGE D. SEYMOUR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

